


i saw the evidence, the crimson soaking through

by sleeponrooftops



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-16
Updated: 2012-09-16
Packaged: 2017-11-14 09:25:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/513755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeponrooftops/pseuds/sleeponrooftops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>War is coming.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i saw the evidence, the crimson soaking through

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a small idea that’s been bugging me for a little bit, but there’s more to it than is actually in the writing, so check out the end note.

_Southern Wyoming._

Sam looks over at his brother as the colt shudders in its place, the gate around it slowing to a small rumble.  Dean’s still staring at the mound of rock, and Sam knows he doesn’t believe, doesn’t think they possibly could have done it.  This has been their whole life, since before Sam could even properly speak, they’ve been on the road, hunting and killing, and—it’s over.

 

Kevin laughs a little, a chuckle, but it brings them all back, and Jody slings an arm around Sam, shakes her head and laughs with Kevin.  “You did it, boys,” she says, _beaming_ , and Sam doesn’t think it’ll ever sink in.  They did it.

 

They closed the gates of Hell— _forever_.

 

“So, I guess we should just—leave?” Dean says, and it’s his brother’s voice that really brings Sam back, that makes him actually look at Dean because then Dean is looking back, and Sam just stands there for a second, just looks at his brother, and then Dean is cracking a smile, and Sam does it back.

 

They don’t laugh, because their life is still chaotic, they’ve still got all the excess demons to round up, to send back to Hell— _forever_ —but _damn_ does it feel good.

 

“I guess so,” Sam says, shrugging, and Jody takes the lead, giving Sam a little nudge before she takes her arm back and motions for Kevin to follow her.  They trudge off, back through the cemetery where all of this started so long ago, where Sam was a walking corpse and Dean had no soul and Azazel was still alive, where they last saw their father.

 

Sam can tell from Dean’s face that he’s thinking the same thing, and so he goes over to his brother, bumps shoulders with him, and gives him a soft smile, one reserved just for him, and Dean returns it.  “C’mon, Sammy,” he mumbles before heading off, and Sam follows him, like he’s always done.

 

Even so, he glances back.  As Dean pockets the colt, as Jody and Kevin stop by the Impala, as everything finally feels right, Sam looks back, and he frowns.  They’ve won today, but war is coming.

 

_Detroit, Michigan._

 

They used to switch, like a changing of the guards, one demon coming through town would step up to the plate, let the other go, and that’s how it’s been for a few years now, waiting, guarding, slowly losing their care for the rest of the world, for all the chaos they could be causing.  Their rounds start to become familiar faces, demons who keep coming back, keeping switching the guard, until one day, they don’t.  They don’t leave, and no one comes back because they’re all already there, stationed around the street and near the building.  They will not leave their fallen god.

 

They’re smart about it, though.  They possessed a doctor, got him to the building and then let go, just sat along for the ride, controlling enough that he’ll stay, keep the body sustained and always ready.  There is no soul in the body, no human left behind, but there is a shell, and they will make it better—healthier, stronger, _able_.  When he returns, he will not need Sam Winchester.

 

Their kind know they are here, know they are to be respected and left alone, but sometimes—sometimes they come into the city, and they relate the news of the world.  They haven’t come in a year, and then they do, and the first face that arrives says it all: Dean Winchester escaped purgatory.  Their peace is over.  The brothers are back in the game.  They don’t expect the second face, the one that tells them about the prophet and the word of God, the one that tells them about the gates of Hell closing forever.

 

And so they prepare, they remember their skills and their strength, they test each other, and all the while, they keep a steady vigilance over their fallen god.  Mostly, though, they leave the body to rest.  They have done all that they can, and it is simply down to waiting now.  They let the doctor go, wipe his memory of these past years, and take him only when they need him, every few weeks, just to check.  Still, they continue on.  They prepare, and they wait.

 

Despite their vigilance, they are not there the day the brothers turn away from the gates of Hell, when they bump shoulders and join their friends in celebration.  They are away from the building, still keeping watch, but getting ready.  War is coming.

 

And so they do not see the body breathe.

 

Ethereal blue eyes look up at a ceiling that has deteriorated over time, that has fallen into despair, and the body breathes again.  The brow furrows in confusion, and the hand lifts in the air, moving, fingers turning.  The body breathes again, and then the hand is pulling, tugging off medical attachments, pushing off the gurney, straying into the light that streams through the open window.  The skin is unmarked by burns, and he can feel the surging power of thousands of demons pulsing through him, but it is more than that.  It is his grace, as well, brighter than it’s ever been—because he is free, and this body is his.

 

Lucifer stands in the sunlight, and he grins, shifting the muscles in _his_ body and listening to the way the bones crack.  War is coming.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is—something. I’ve been thinking about this idea for a while, and it was a theory I read about the end of season eight, them “closing” the gates of Hell, but really just releasing Lucifer (and probably Michael, now that I think about it), and—I just love Lucy, okay, and I love writing about him, and I had to. This is really short, I know, but I just wanted to do a little drabble, get this idea out there. Speaking of this little thing—what did you think? I kind of really love those last two lines, and I want to continue this, to explore Lucifer coming back and just—breaking everything, simply because he can. Anyway, thank you for reading, and don’t forget to leave your thoughts!


End file.
